Fuel Cell and Solar Test Equipment - Insights

Fuel Cells - The use of low cost coatings instead of precious metals for fuel cells. Being able to use alternative fuels. Larger companies, Ebay, Walmart, Google, Coca-Cola, FedEx, to name a few are giving the technology credibility. Also the majority of the installations are in California which has very stringent environmental laws.

Recharge rate & how good the solar cells are in conversion from solar to output.

Lithium iron phosphate. Portable fuel cell infrastructure. Printable solar cell technology.

We have found that Actmeters - gold IBT to be a useful bit of kit in measuring available AH. For voltage current and watt measurements we use a Lem Heme 2050 test meter.

Nissan's LEAF battery technology. About the fuel cells, I don't think it is a mature technology, yet. About solar test equipment, i don't yet have an opinion.

Ballard fuel cell technologies. Toyota motor company. Ford motor company.

To my knowledge, we are the only company in the UK that designs, builds and installs UPS/Battery Back UP Systems for Traffic Signals and other related Highway Equipment - To ensure that these systems operate as expected, battery testing is essential.

I have not used fuel cells, my primary interest, but I have looked at them for use in digester gas utilization. The battery use is primarily for UPS systems for our SCADA.

RV, Commercial vehicle and public service vehicle axillary power supplies, Sweeping and cleaning equipment and inverter power supplies.

Our 288 cell (2V) battery bank is charged all the time by either generators (with rectifiers), solar and/or wind turbines. DC loads come directly off the battery bank. Inverters powered by the battery bank power the AC loads. The battery bank is central to everything.

Used to date @ home for lighting, refrigeration, PC desktops & laptops,TV, satellite DSTV, video player , washing machines, dishwasher & the tumble dryer uses the most current/load so that has to run during the day when the sun shines & charges the batteries, swimming pool also during the day because of the load...Use Solar geysers for heating the hot water & sometimes the 1.5kW geyser element... but that kills the batteries.

I haven't used any non-standard equipment.... unless you think wind power is non-standard... I find most people in my sunshine State of Florida overlook the use of wind power which produces more electricity (day and night) at a cheaper cost ( Florida has trade winds and regularly occurring storms that give peak performance of wind turbines both during day and night periods... Mountainous regions and plains areas can produce even more continuous winds.

Biggest mistake I made was not having my solar and battery system adequately protected from lightning.... One strike took out half my solar cells per panel and discharged my battery pack into my inverter setting fire to my house before my fuses blew.... Now I have multiple grounds with grounding wires as straight as I could come from the lightning antennas to the ground since lightning follows the path of least restrictions, meaning it likes to travel in straight lines... The straighter the lines from the point of the strike the less the lightning travels off that path into other electrical systems. If properly done, you can have multiple strikes without any damage just like the radio and TV stations learned the hard way down here in Florida.

Yes. When installers mix old and new or charged and discharges batteries with each other when doing an installation the batteries in good condition damage, destroy or blow up the batteries in poor condition during heavy loading or fast charging.

A battery incident due to lack of maintenance. We saw the results of a battery explosion on starting of a jet turbine engine used for standby power genset application.

Roofing solar cells that produce both electricity and hot water.... I still like the old lead acid battery selection as a cheaper form of storage even though the fire/explosion risk and maintenance/care is higher but can be reduced by proper design of the battery room....

Our wish is to invent a complete testing kit for battery and solar panels life during purchased and installation for accuracy and determination.

Fuel cell technology to stop EV vehicle range anxiety. Capacitor storage for braking regeneration . Minimum range of 200km in a ev vehicle.

Don't use quick discharge tests. They only find the worst batteries.

Have fuses & wiring up to date & they must be well ventilated & protected from the weather.

Make sure that the equipment you use is rated for True RMS and the accuracy is sufficient for the application.

Ensure the present equipments are upgradable and compatible to developments after 2-3 years. The equipment must 100% comply to SAFETY STANDARDS. These equipments are required on site. Hence the travel kit should be designed accordingly so that no damage is done to equipment during travel.

My biggest advice is location, location, location,,,,, where you live and where you mount your solar/wind/storage devices.... most important... test equipment should be in two locations (the battery storage area and somewhere inside the home for easy access to monitor production and use of generated power as well as acid levels of batteries.... It cuts down on the daily work to maintain the system.

Check your loads & have enough batteries to carry you through for 3 days as the clouds can cover & influence the charging rate so solar cell conversion rate & price are important.

My advice to users is to contact the professional tech. before doing anything with batteries.

Make sure to do plenty of testing in all environments.

Try to utilize USA products. They are much more consistent in quality.

Research and monitor the user groups to determine what is appropriate.

Yes we have solar equipment (MICROCARE)

Keep it simple and inexpensive.

Buy quality, expect quality.

AVOID HYPE!